XXIV - Let the world's sharpness like a clasping knife

Let the world's sharpness like a clasping knife
Shut in upon itself and do no harm
In this close hand of Love, now soft and warm,
And let us hear no sound of human strife
After the click of the shutting. Life to life--
I lean upon thee, Dear, without alarm,
And feel as safe as guarded by a charm
Against the stab of worldlings, who if rife
Are weak to injure. Very whitely still
The lilies of our lives may reassure
Their blossoms from their roots, accessible
Alone to heavenly dews that drop not fewer;
Growing straight, out of man's reach, on the hill.
God only, who made us rich, can make us poor.

More poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

XII - Indeed this very love which is my boast

Indeed this very love which is my boast, / And which, when rising up from breast to brow,

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XXX - I see thine image through my tears to-night

I see thine image through my tears to-night, / And yet to-day I saw thee smiling. How

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Irreparableness

I HAVE been in the meadows all the day / And gathered there the nosegay that you see

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XXV - A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne

A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne / From year to year until I saw thy face,

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

All poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning →